Steve Schwartz didn’t start Art of Tea because tea was trendy. He started it after watching Western medicine fail his mother. That moment sent him down a path few founders take — studying Ayurveda, working in herbal pharmacies, traveling the world to source botanicals, and learning how plants affect the body at a deep, functional level.

Art of Tea began in a living room, blending by hand, making just enough money to survive week to week. Today, it’s an award-winning tea company trusted by the White House, Caesars Palace, Wolfgang Puck, Slack, and The Peninsula Hotel. 

Make sure to check out Art of Tea at: https://bit.ly/442ubxt

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Eric LeVine didn’t set out to build a startup. He was a Microsoft engineer during the dot-com boom who just wanted to keep track of the wine he owned. So he built a simple spreadsheet — an “Excel for wine” — to organize his own cellar. Friends started asking for access. Then friends of friends.

In 2003, Eric put the tool online. That side project became CellarTracker.

In this episode, Eric walks through turning a personal itch into global infrastructure, why obsession with data and community mattered more than monetization early on, and how CellarTracker now uses AI to help people know when to drink a bottle — not just what they own.

Make sure to check out CellarTracker at: https://www.cellartracker.com/

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Starting Small is powered by Riverside.fm, the AI-powered platform that lets you record, edit, repurpose,and distribute studio-quality content as easily as if you had a crew behind you. Check them out now at https://riverside.com/

After years running a packed West Hollywood fitness studio and launching multiple FitTech products, revenue flattened, Justin Norris' health slipped, and the business stalled. A single cold plunge changed everything. The clarity he felt stepping out of the water sparked a pivot that would take LIT from a traditional fitness brand to a design-forward recovery company now backed by pro athletes and top investors.

Today, LIT is redefining the recovery category with premium cold plunges, infrared saunas, and turnkey solutions for gyms, studios, and hospitality groups. In this episode, Justin breaks down how he rebuilt the business from the inside out — the mindset shift, the product decisions, and the bet on recovery becoming the next wave in wellness.

Make sure to check out LIT at: https://www.litmethod.com/

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Thank you to this episodes mid-break sponsor, Blue Sky. Blue Sky Clayworks has been hand-crafting whimsical, high-quality collectible ceramics for over 20 years — from seasonal candle houses and detailed figurines to tabletop classics you’ll want out year-round. Each piece is individually hand-painted and hand-packed to arrive perfect, and fans rave that the designs are unlike anything else you’ll find. Check out their 12 days of giving until Dec 12th for 20% off deals at https://blueskyclayworks.com/

At 22 years old, Eugene Kang bought a tiny jerky business from an 80-year-old butcher he met on a road trip. It was doing about $500K a year and relied entirely on private-label production. Over the next fourteen years, he rebuilt everything — the brand, the manufacturing, the product strategy — transforming it into Archer, one of the fastest-growing companies in meat snacks.

From navigating USDA operations as a first-time founder, to unlocking national retail doors through a licensed Sriracha SKU that flipped early “no’s” into “yeses”, Eugene grew Archer into a projected $500M brand by 2026, with 90% YoY growth in 2024. In this conversation, he breaks down the operational grind, the rebrand from Country Archer to Archer, and how sticks became the engine behind one of the biggest category expansions in modern snacking.

Make sure to check out Archer at: https://archerjerky.com/

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When Michael Jacobson took over his uncle’s barely-profitable flower shop in 2018, many saw a sinking business — he saw potential. Through a mix of technology, obsessive customer care, and operational discipline, he turned what was doing roughly $600K a year into a $9.5M+ powerhouse. Today, French Florist isn’t just surviving — it’s preparing to scale nationally through franchise expansion. In this episode, Michael walks us through the behind-the-scenes rebuild: from modernizing outdated systems, rethinking margins, and making flowers a product people rely on, to proving that even a flower shop can be built like a high-growth business.

Make sure to check out French Florist at https://www.frenchflorist.com/

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Thank you to this episodes mid-break sponsor, Suri.

a sleek, travel-friendly sonic brush that delivers 33,000 vibrations a minute for a deep clean, has plant-based heads you can recycle for free, and now comes with a UV-C charging case that wipes out 99.9% of bacteria at the touch of a button. Brush better. Help the planet. And skip the landfill guilty-conscience — because SURI treats your teeth like the everyday essential they are. Explore it now at https://www.trysuri.com/en-us

As the founder of Pocono Mountain Maple, a 450-acre certified organic maple farm located in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, Nicole has always had a deep appreciation for nature. Under her direction, the farm produces Pocono Maple Water, a naturally hydrating, subtly sweet water tapped fresh each spring from organic maple trees.  In addition to its flagship product, the property also offers the region’s only exclusive family nature retreat, blending wellness, sustainability, and outdoor connection in one unique destination.

A Pocono native, Bentler returned to the region after more than a decade working in the health and wellness space. Driven by a vision to revive and reimagine a historic maple farm, she transformed it into a source of both nourishment and nature-based experience. Her work with traditional syrup and sap led to the discovery of maple water’s deeper potential—a rare, mineral-rich drink high in manganese that reflects the purity of its origins.

Make sure to check out Pocono Mountain Maple at https://www.poconomtnmaple.com/

Check out my new book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4kRKGTX

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From early experiments in pet tech to running one of the most successful bootstrapped companies in the country, Jacob Zuppke has led Whisker (maker of Litter-Robot®) into a multi-hundred-million-dollar powerhouse. Over the past four years, Whisker surpassed $1B in revenue—all without raising a single dollar of venture capital. With millions of loyal customers across DTC and retail channels, the company is now preparing its most ambitious launch yet: a new generation of connected products that move beyond convenience into personalized pet care. In this episode, Jacob shares the grit of scaling without outside capital, how Whisker became a category-defining brand, and why the future of pet ownership is about more than just cleanup.

Make sure to check out Whisker at: https://www.whisker.com/

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Mark Newman has spent his career fixing broken systems. At just 20, he co-founded HireVue, a company that reimagined hiring through video interviews, scaling it into a platform used by millions worldwide before its acquisition by Carlyle Group. But it was his own experience in a hospital after the birth of his child that sparked his next fight—taking on the healthcare system. Today, as founder and CEO of Nomi Health, Mark is building a new operating system for healthcare, already touching over $100B in employer healthcare spend, serving millions of Americans, and proving costs can be cut in half without sacrificing care. In this conversation, Mark shares the grit of his early ventures, how Nomi scaled through the chaos of the pandemic, and why he believes employers—not insurers—hold the keys to healthcare reform.

Make sure to check out Naomi Health at: https://www.nomihealth.com/

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Emily Vaca launched MINNIDIP in 2017 as a bold antidote to sad blue kiddie pools — designing a sleek, adult-friendly inflatable that was missing in the market. She bootstrapped the brand, protected it via early patents, and slowly built a passionate fanbase. In 2024, she blew everyone’s minds with the MINNIDIP Balloon Garland: a reusable, latex-free, single-inflation cluster that sold seven figures in 24 hours with a waitlist of 51,000+. In this episode, Emily shares the constraints she embraced, how she pushed through manufacturing dead ends, and how she designs with purpose and durability in mind.

Make sure to check out MINNIDIP at: https://minnidip.com/

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What started on a Denver apartment stovetop has turned into an eight-figure clean haircare brand trusted by tastemakers and barbers alike. In this episode, Boone Whiteside and Ben Medalie share how they built Highland from DIY experiments into a business that redefines performance, health, and sustainability in haircare. From mixing pomades in a KitchenAid to landing in 150+ barbershops and salons across the country, their journey shows how staying lean, purpose-driven, and authentic can transform an industry.

Make sure to check out Highland at: https://www.highland.style/

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Thank you to this episodes mid-break sponsor, Edel Golf, customizing all scoring clubs to help get you at least one shot better, because even one shot can change everything. Makes sure to check them out at https://edelgolf.com/